This story from The Republican's archive is part of our look back at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's years in Massachusetts politics: as Senate candidate, gubernatorial candidate and governor. It was published on October 3, 2006.

By Associated Press

BOSTON - The latest political ad to pop this campaign season features the smiling face of a politician who isn't even running for office - Gov. W. Mitt Romney.

The ad, paid for by the Romney-led Republican Governor's Association, shows him crafting balanced budgets, producing billion-dollar surpluses and signing the state's landmark health care bill into law - all with Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey at his side.

It's also raising questions about whom the ad is designed to help more - Healey, the Republican candidate for governor, or Romney, who is weighing a run for president.

The ad refers to the "Romney-Healey administration." Healey is seen at Romney's side during much of the ad, except for a few seconds at the end where she is shown smiling and talking with students.

It began airing a day after a Boston Globe poll was released showing that about 45 percent of voters said Healey's role as Romney's lieutenant governor would make them less likely to vote for her while only 25 percent said it would make them more likely to back her.

"What it problematic for Kerry Healey is the poor numbers of Romney in the commonwealth and hitching your candidacy to someone who doesn't have good numbers," said Tobe Berkovitz, a Massachusetts political observer and associate dean of the Boston University College of Communications. "This ad reinforces that."

Tim O'Brien, Healey's campaign manager, said the ad wasn't coordinated with the Healey campaign and that he hadn't seen it until it began running yesterday.

"We didn't have anything to do with the production of the ad," he said.

O'Brien said he hoped the ad would remind voters how Healey helped pull the state out of its fiscal crisis and would counter some of the millions spent during the Democratic gubernatorial primary criticizing the administration.

Phil Musser, executive director of the Republican Governors Association, said the purpose of that ad is to talk about the accomplishments of the Romney-Healey administration and "all the good work Kerry Healey has been doing on the important issues of the day."

"We believe that this is a race that had the ability to take shape for us," he said. "We thought it was important to make sure that voters in Massachusetts understand the facts."

Musser said that while Romney is chairman of the association, he recused himself from decisions about the amount of spending on ads.

At a press conference called to highlight what she described as the runaway spending plans of Patrick, Healey said she was eager to make a fresh start if elected.

"I will be a new governor. I will be a different kind of governor than we've had in the past," Healey said.